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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. stem — to come from
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. spring — a coil
  6. file — a document
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. file — a line of people
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. stock — goods
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — in a road
  14. content — the amount
  15. spring — the season
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. stock — shares
  18. spring — of water
  19. fine — all right
  20. file — a tool
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. fine — high quality
  23. content — happy
  24. stem — a stem cell

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com